On Being a Bridesmaid

My friend, Ashley, got married this past weekend, and I was asked to be a bridesmaid.  Ashley and I lived together as hall-mates our freshman year in the dorm and then shared an apartment for the rest of college and graduate school.  She is one of my dearest friends, and it was an honor to stand with her on her wedding day.

 

Ashley and her new husband, Jamie, had a beautiful wedding and a super fun reception.  At the end of the night, I noticed that Ashley and another close friend and bridesmaid were rushing to the restroom.  Ashley had picked out a cute going away dress so that she could comfortably arrive at her hotel with Jamie, and when I saw her and Emily leaving the ballroom, I knew it was time to change clothes and prepare to leave.  Those last few moments with a best friend and bride before she leaves for her honeymoon are precious, and I didn’t want to miss a second, so I quickly found myself in the bathroom with Ashley’s mom, sister, and her four closest friends.  Squeezed in that tiny space, working over two other girls to help unbutton the thousands of tiny buttons on Ashley’s dress, and laughing reminded me how special it is to be a bridesmaid for a friend.

 

Being a bridesmaid is an amazing honor.  When I picked my friends to be my bridesmaids, the choices were easy.  I picked the girls I loved most in the world – the ones I knew would walk with me through any situation life throws my way, who were more sisters than friends.  I know Ashley did the same.  I love the coordinating dresses that serve as a testimony to all at the party that this woman is a precious and loved friend.  This is a woman who knows the bride as well as she knows herself.  She is special because of her relationship to the beautiful girl in white.

 

This weekend, I was excited to be one of Ashley’s bridesmaids and thankful to know her, and I was reminded how being a bridesmaid is a little like being a Christian.  Just as my relationship with Ashley entitled me to wear a beautiful purple dress and be one of the few people involved in helping her prepare for her new life with her husband, my relationship with Christ entitles me to wear new clothes and walk intimately with God.  Colossians 3:12 describes the garments Christians should wear: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”  In the world, Christians should be like the bridesmaids of a wedding.  We should be the ones wearing different clothes.  We should stand out as ones closely connected with Jesus Christ.  The clothes we wear are not on our bodies, but should be as immediately obvious as if they were.  We should have compassion and kindness for the poor and shunned.  We should have humility when others have pride; we should be gentle when others are harsh or self-seeking; we should have patience in a world that is full of impatience.  I frequently fall short of wearing all these characteristics well, but I know when I see people who embody these traits consistently – especially in situations where those around them don’t – they stand out as much as I did this weekend in a long, purple bridesmaid dress. 

 

As Christians, we are special because we are chosen.  Ephesians 1:4 says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”  Ashley chose me as one of her best friends, and because she did, I wore the dress she picked for me.  In the same way, the Lord has chosen those who believe in him, and he has also picked out our clothes as described in Colossians.  I would never dream of going to a wedding as a bridesmaid and not wearing the chosen attire.  Likewise, I should never dream of walking around as a Christian and not wearing the clothes that have been picked for the occasion – clothes that show I’m with Jesus.  Clothes like patience, kindness, humility, gentleness.  Clothes that symbolize the relationship.